Memoirs and morsels from home and abroad

the rebbetzin’s roast

One of the qualities about which I am least proud is my tendency to leave certain things to the last minute. Humanities papers in college (but yet studying for my science or math exams well in advanced…?). Switching my purse to match my outfit when I’m leaving the house and already late. Buying ingredients for a shabbat meal even though I’ve planned out a menu for days.

Well, the last one came back to bite me right before Shavout last week when the only kosher butcher in town closed 6 hours before sunset. I had heard from friends that they kept strange hours and here it was on their website in black and white for all to read:

Open: Sun. 7- 4 Mon. & Tues. 7- 6 Wed. & Thurs. 7- 8 Fri. 7- 2

But, I still didn’t believe it. So, they close on Fridays 6 hours before sunset, clearly they don’t REALLY expect people who work to actually be able to conduct all of their shopping on Wednesday or Thursday evenings before 8 or on Sundays before 4.

Clearly they do.

And when a holiday starts on a Thursday evening, they close at 2 pm as well. I found this out when I called at 3 pm on that fateful Thursday to check on their hours.

(I understand their logic, but is this customer-facing in any world that normal people live in? I resent kosher monopolies and this makes me a tiny bit nostalgic for the days when the community banded together and rioted when the local kosher establishments took advantage of their customers, e.g., during the Kosher Meat Boycott of 1902 secondary to a 50% increase in the price of meat, described at the time by the NYT and put into nice historical context in this excerpt by Monroe Friedman in Consumer Boycotts, referring to noted social historian, Cliffie, and Yale Professor Paula Hyman. Yes, I realize that this is a much more extreme example of the issue at hand, but really, 6 hours before the holiday begins?)

Well, I was walking towards my ZipCar a few minutes past 3, deep in thought about how to adjust the meal that I had planned around having a brisket (to be prepared as salpicon, a Mexican shredded beef dish dressed in chipotle and adobe sauce) in case I could only buy chicken breasts at the local Trader Joe’s. And then I walked past the house of a local rabbi, Rabbi Ganz, and remembered that his wife, the rebbetzin (the title for a rabbi’s wife, though she introduces herself as Rifka — she is a down-to-earth, approachable woman) has a thriving counseling practice and, more important for the matter at hand, commutes weekly to New York to see her patients and often purchases meat and some other groceries in Queens. She had once mentioned this to me, and out of a stubborn dedication to serving meat that I was craving without compunction, and little second thought about embarrassing myself or social convention, I unabashedly emailed R’ Ganz on my BlackBerry at 3:13 pm:

I actually have a very very strange request – I seem to have missed out on going to the Butcherie today…and didn’t realize that it closes at 2 pm (! yes, at 2 pm even in the summer…I’m clearly still accustomed to NY rushing around before yom tov). Is there any chance you guys have an extra brisket in your freezer that I can buy off of you? I know it sounds very very funny, but I’m not sure who else to ask since many people here seem to be veggie, or veggie-like (alas, Cambridge!). Worse case scenario, I’ll just cook chicken, but I’ve had this yearning for brisket …

And here was his response at 3:22:

… As for the roast, what we have in the freezer is a 3 pound square chuck roast which you are welcome to take …

In under 2 hours, I had completed my fruit and veggie shopping, returned my ZipCar, and arrived at the Ganz’s door to pick up the roast to defrost for the following evening. Meat would be mine and my guests’ for Friday night.

Adapted from Joan Nathan’s The Foods of Israel Today. The original recipe calls for a 5- to 6-pound brisket for 10-12 servings, so I was afraid that a 3 pound chuck roast would not be nearly enough for my 8 guests (so of course I also made chicken) and we ended up having enough leftovers to feed me for lunch for several days. I had never made a chuck roast before and was not familiar with how it might differ from a brisket (and didn’t have much time to research), so I just took a leap and hoped for the best. This roast did not seem to shrink as much as a brisket does. I made a few substitutions (Goya Manzanilla Spanish olives with pits, canned preserved lemons), braised the meat in a pan that is way too big (I need a Dutch oven for anyone who cares), and the only complaint I have is that the roast didn’t quite slice as nicely as was hoping it would. Perhaps I didn’t let it cool sufficiently?

The flavors are intense – salty and tomato-ey and quite concentrated. One of the beauties of this dish is that everything can be prepared in advance and the flavors intensify over about a day.

2-3 preserved lemons, diced (these are not difficult to make — you essentially quarter lemons and pickle them in salt water for several weeks, but I had some Roland brand jarred ones (O-U) on hand that I had bought at Christina’s – see Resources)

1/4 C coarsely chopped parsley

1/4 C coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Prepare the meat. Pierce skin of the roast with knife in 5 places and insert garlic cloves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 T oil in heavy skillet or roasting pan. Add the meat and sear on all sides (several minutes each side), then remove.

Prepare the veggies. Add 2 more T oil to the hot pan and sauté 3 of the chopped onions until limp. Add all the spices (turmeric, ginger, white pepper, bay leaves), celery, 1 diced tomato, and water to the pan. Sauté for 1-2 more minutes and let cool.

Cook the meat. Place roast in the baking pan and surround with the cooked vegetables.

Roast the meat, covered, in the oven for 3 hours or until a fork goes in and out of the meat easily (I guess this is what is meant by the term “fork tender”). Periodically check the roast to make sure that there is enough liquid in the pan. If you are using a big turkey pan (like I do since I do not own a Dutch oven…) that does not have a proper cover, you will probably need to check the roast periodically to make sure there is enough liquid. Otherwise, you might (like I did) end up with some lovely caramelized onions and tomatoes (which actually are quite lovely, but might not be quite the effect you are seeking). When ready, remove, cool, and refrigerate, reserving the vegetables. You can prepare this a day ahead of time.

Prepare the tomato-onion sauce. Heat the remaining 1T of oil in a frying pan and add the remaining 1 chopped onion. Saute until onions are translucent. Add the remaining 2 diced tomatoes and simmer, covered for a few minutes. Set aside or refrigerate overnight until ready to serve meat.

Slice and reheat meat. About an hour before your plan to serve the meat (or once meat has fully cooled — I probably didn’t wait long enough and tried to slice when still warm), cut it against the grain into slices ~1/4-inch thick. Return the slices to the baking an along with the reserved vegetables in which the meat was cooked (the tomato-celery-onion mix). Reheat the meat, covered, in a 350ºF oven for ~ 30 minutes.

Complete the sauce. Add to the tomato-onion mixture the olives, preserved lemons, and half of the parsley and cilantro (2 T each). Heat in a small saucepan.

Remove the brisket and arrange on serving platter with vegetables (caramelized or otherwise), covered with sauce and garnished with remaining 2 T each of parsley and cilantro. Don’t forget to pluck out the bay leaves.

A special thank you to my gracious neighbor who took many process photos during the holiday when cooking is cool, but photo-taking, while uber-tempting for me, is not.

- Mathilde, I too love Moroccan (I noticed my only other meat post is also Moroccan-inspired!).
– S. Stockwell – Let me know if you do try this and how it works out!
– Marina – Ha! You’ll have to tell me about the Boycott — it was a little before my time.
– Lo – There actually were leftovers (I was pleasantly surprised) and what is great about this dish, like brisket, is that it was possibly even better the next day. The flavors intensify. I had some of the meat cold, shredded, in a simple wrap with lettuce. And I also reheated some of it with the sauce and couscous (just add some water when microwaving or heating in oven/on stovetop to doesn’t dry out).

About

Hi! I'm Gayle, and here I use my Hebrew name Zahavah. I work front of house in a restaurant where I'm learning the hospitality industry from the ground up. Up until a year ago, I was a health care consultant. Also, I have an MD. Go figure! Thanks for dropping by and joining the conversation.

koshercamembert@gmail.com

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